1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to cooling systems for high performance computer systems and components thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
The present invention relates to cooling of high performance electronic systems, and computer systems in particular, such as described in the commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/530,410, filed Sep. 8, 2006, entitled “Methods and Systems for Scalable Interconnect”, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Briefly, electronic components of such high performance computer systems are housed in modules that are located in one or more cages (card cages). In turn, these cages are disposed in equipment chassis or cabinets.
Simple air circulation around the electronic components that generate heat is often not sufficient, and methods of assisted cooling are required. Conventional cooling methods include: equipping heat generating components with heat sinks and fans; directing air by fans and baffles at the heat sinks; heat pipes; and liquid cooling such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,040 in which a cooling liquid is circulated through a heat sink that is attached to the device. A more recent example of liquid cooling available for electronic devices is found in http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/liquidcooling.aspx.
In conventional packaging of an electronic system in an equipment chassis or cabinet, with electronic components mounted on modules, air is circulated through the system using blowers (fans). The fans may be mounted, for example, in the bottom of the chassis (or cabinet) and blow air from an air inlet upward to pass over the modules. The blown air, now heated by the modules, escapes the chassis or cabinet through an air outlet that may be disposed at or near the top of the chassis.
The chassis may be located side-by-side with other chassis in rows, separated by aisles. Conventionally, cool air may be provided by the building system in “cool” aisles while the warm air, having passed through the chassis, is exhausted into “warm” aisles. The ASHREA (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) and NEBS (Network Equipment Building Standards) provide guidelines for the installation and cooling aspects of equipment chassis or cabinets.
Baffles in the chassis may be used to direct the air flow from the “cool” aisle into the chassis, air filters are generally used in the air inlet, and the chassis may be enclosed to confine the airflow over the components that are to be cooled. Air filters may be used in the air inlet to insure that only filtered air passes over the components to be cooled.
The electronic modules may be open at the bottom and at the top, which allows air to pass directly over the electronic components and their respective heat sinks.
While such conventional methods of cooling rack mounted electronic systems are fairly well established in the industry, the increasing power dissipation of high performance electronic components requires more efficient cooling methods.